Dog incident wasn't the first

Regarding the article "Dog's Future to Be Decided in Court." I was quoted as saying things I did not say. I have lived in Garden City most of my life and have a high regard for The Telegram. I was not aware The Telegram printed quotes that are hearsay. That would put The Telegram in the same class as The Globe and The Enquirer, and we hope that is not the case.

My husband and I decided to not speak to The Telegram as we felt police handled the situation we called in about. We are a Christian family and believe in telling the truth. Because people need to know the truth, we will state the facts as they happened.

We were awakened several times the night before the dog fight by Tequila and her four pups trying to get at the neighbor's dog through the fence. To get them to quit, we would turn on the driveway light and yell at the dogs to leave. The neighbor's husky was in her own yard. We awoke in the morning to a dog fight in our front yard in front of our porch. My husband went out yelling for the dogs to quit and go home. I was telling him to get in the house so he would not get bit. He has Parkinson's Disease and does not walk well. He was yelling the dogs were going to kill the husky. What I saw was the four large pups biting at the husky. We felt they were not playing. The husky did not fight back and as it started to go down, David got her collar and dragged her into our house. I called the police.

I called the police because the husky belonged to a police officer's sister. This officer lives across the street and the sister next door to us. I do not have a phone number or last name for either. The police sent two officers who asked why we did not go next door and get them, and we said we were scared for fear the dogs were still out there.

The police officers then looked for Tequila and the pups. My husband and I heard a gunshot but did not see anything. Later that afternoon one pup came through our yard dragging what looked like fishing line. I saw Robin and told her about the pup dragging something. She went by the Diegos' house and found the pup with the line in its head. She brought the pup over to me to see. I told her I had no idea what it was, and she said it might be a taser.

My husband and I decided not to go to the court date last Monday because I spent most of the night before in the emergency room. My husband doing poorly and going in for brain surgery soon is another reason for our not being involved. We also both feel the officers handled our situation to the best of their ability.

This is not the first incident with this dog and her pups. Other neighbors, mail postal people and police officers themselves have had trouble. We hope the situation can be worked out to the best manner for the dog and our neighborhood.

NANCY CARR,

Garden City

Police mishandle dog situation

The events that unfolded April 11 reaffirm the fact that the Garden City Police Department has absolutely no business attempting to handle animal control in this city. These officers are not trained for handling animals. Animal control needs to become a city-run department, much like the zoo department, or the parks department. This way they could hire people that understand and are trained in animal behavior and that have some compassion. The police department can't seem to find anyone that wants to do the job, probably because of all the ridiculous regulations that they are required to follow to the letter as a division of the police.

On April 11, two officers of the Garden City Police Department entered a property and attempted to capture four puppies. This provoked the mother dog into charging the officers, so one of them shot her with his gun. Anyone with animal training or experience knows you do not get between a mother and her young. I understand that they were defending themselves, but this situation could have so easily been avoided with just a little patience. I hate that it happened, but I do understand. However, then "one of the officers was rounding a corner when he was startled by a pup and shot it with a taser." Under no circumstance is shooting a puppy with a taser an acceptable practice. It is animal cruelty, plain and simple. What if it had been a child that had rounded the corner and "startled" the officer? Would he have tasered it also? Probably. These officers did not think first. One of the first things a person learns in a hunter safety course is to make a positive identification before firing a weapon. Do they teach that at the police academy? It appears they do not. Visions of Barney Fife.

What can you, the animal-loving public of Garden City, do? Talk to our city commissioners. Let's get the ball rolling to get animal control away from the police department and make it city-run.

ROBIN CALDERON,

Garden City